Spells to help wizard stay alive. (AC/Miss Chance/Misc)

[m149307]

I am building a Wizard/IoSV. I am curious, what spells would help increase his chances of surviving a fight (besides the veils)? I want to make this charcter as uncheesy as possible... so yeah. (IoSV isn't considered cheese by my group to those who think it is.)

[Kazudo]

What specifically is considered "cheese"? It would help immensely to know the boundaries of character optimization.

[m149307]

Can't be too optimized basically. An example is being able to cast a quickened maximized inflict wounds (this was something I actually was told no to for my Cleric build.)

[Kazudo]

Ok. Well, Mage Armor and Shield help, as do the Protection From X spells. Cat's Grace to give you a temporary +4 DEX, Haste to make you move faster (can't hit what isn't in range), Protection from energy...

Basically, Abjuration and Transmutation are going to be your friends.

[m149307]

Ok, plus I have heard about Silent image and something about a ghost spell thing that allows me to not be hit by nonmagic weapons?

[jjcrpntr]

If you're playing 3.5 there's an alternate class feature in PHP2 that if you specialize in conjuration you can teleport 10 feet as an immediate action a number of times per day equal to your int modifier. That's a pretty nice ability to help with staying alive.

The heart of X series is pretty awesome. Gives resists, movement speed, health, full fortification (once you have all 4 going), under water breathing, oh and the best part, a +10 on jump checks!

edit: didn't see the heart of X series had already been mentioned yay for skimming through replies.

[Dread_Head]

For AC there's (Greater) Luminous Armour, Alter Self into a high natural armour form, Shield, Polymorph into high NA or Dex form. Consider sticking some Abjurant Champion levels into your build for the boost to AC of Abjuration spells and free extend / quicken on them.

Miss chance comes from (Greater) Mirror Image, (Greater/Superior) Invisibility, Blur, Displacement, (Greater) Blink, any fog or darkness spells etc.

Another great method of survivability comes from the Abrupt Jaunt ACF which lets you teleport as an immediate action to avoid attacks.

Other survivability comes from stuff like Minor Shapeshift granting temporary hit points each turn, the Heart of X line from Complete Mage granting immunity to crits and sneak attack and providing other passive bonuses and panic buttons when you need them.

[jjcrpntr]

I'd second the greater luminous armor. +8 ac, plus a -4 on melee attack rolls against you is pretty awesome.

[Phelix-Mu]

Wings of cover, from Races of the Dragon, if it hasn't been mentioned yet. Seriously broken, though somewhat open to interpretation, as the precise timing of interrupt-type effects via immediate actions isn't terribly well-defined.

Also, friendly fire, from Exemplars of Evil. Allows the target to redirect ranged attacks that target him or her to some other target within a certain distance, and is always usable, because an empty square is a valid target for almost all attacks. That's not until 4th level, though.

[m149307]

Ok, so how do ACF works? Oh, and I should have mentioned that I am allowed more fets then normal if that helps at all (I get about 13 if I were a Human, about 12 otherwise for a level 20 build.) os if there are feats that help too then suggest away please. And whihc is better to have, AC or miss chance? (Or should they be balanced?)

[Spore]

Good old mirror image. Greater Invis, Blur, Mage Armor, Shield.

[Tryxx]

Ok, plus I have heard about Silent image and something about a ghost spell thing that allows me to not be hit by nonmagic weapons?

I believe you're thinking of Ghostform. It's a level 8 spell that gives you the incorporeal subtype (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/typesSubtypes.htm#incorporealSubtype). It's duration is 1 round/level, but still fun.

[jjcrpntr]

Ok, so how do ACF works? Oh, and I should have mentioned that I am allowed more fets then normal if that helps at all (I get about 13 if I were a Human, about 12 otherwise for a level 20 build.) os if there are feats that help too then suggest away please. And whihc is better to have, AC or miss chance? (Or should they be balanced?)

Basically you just give up some class ability for something else. In this case you give up your familiar to specialize in a school of magic and you get a special ability based on your specialty. For example abjuration lets you as an immediate action summon a shield that gives +2 shield bonus to AC (wont stack with the shield spell though). Conjuration gives the teleport thing I mentioned which IMO is one of the best ACF that I've found for what you give up it's awesome.

It starts on page 68 of the PHP2 if you're interested.

[Phelix-Mu]

Basically you just give up some class ability for something else. In this case you give up your familiar to specialize in a school of magic and you get a special ability based on your specialty. For example abjuration lets you as an immediate action summon a shield that gives +2 shield bonus to AC (wont stack with the shield spell though). Conjuration gives the teleport thing I mentioned which IMO is one of the best ACF that I've found for what you give up it's awesome.

It starts on page 68 of the PHP2 if you're interested.

If the OP has extra feats, then there is no downside to trading Familiar class feature for Abrupt Jaunt/etc, then picking up the familiar later via Obtain Familiar (which is better than the class feature due to stacking more types of arcanist levels for calculating the abilities of the familiar).

By the by, while both AC and miss chance have their role, miss chance is generally better, and sometimes harder to bypass (though enemies that use lots of magic will have good ways to get past either). The main problem with AC is that all the bad monsters that you should fear have attack bonuses that scale way, way faster than AC, since they are based on HD, and HD for monsters increases more as the campaign progresses (to keep up with the damage output of the party).

[Red Fel]

By the by, while both AC and miss chance have their role, miss chance is generally better, and sometimes harder to bypass (though enemies that use lots of magic will have good ways to get past either). The main problem with AC is that all the bad monsters that you should fear have attack bonuses that scale way, way faster than AC, since they are based on HD, and HD for monsters increases more as the campaign progresses (to keep up with the damage output of the party).

A world of this. AC loses its utility very quickly, but things like miss chance, fortification, and various immunities are valuable forever. Check out this list (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?187851-3-5-Lists-of-Necessary-Magic-Items) for magic items that can provide you with miss chance, various immunities, and other protections, which can free your spells up for more fun things (like bending reality over one knee and reminding it who's in charge).

[m149307]

Alright, thanks everyone.

[Darrin]

Also:

Instant Diversion (Races of the Dragon, Sor/Wiz 1). Lesser version of mirror image, but cast as a swift action. Good to have in a wand chamber (100 GP, Dungeonscape).

Rot of Ages (Dragon Magic, Sor/Wiz 1). Save vs nausea, sickened if they make the save, and anything your enemy attacks gets concealment for 2 rounds.

Wall of Smoke (Spell Compendium, Sor/Wiz 1). Battlefield control, debuff, and concealment all in the same spell.

Dark Way (Spell Compendium, Sor/Wiz 2). Block off doors/passages, divide up the battlefield, or just something to hide behind while you're bleeding.

Wall of Chains (Book of Vile Darkness, Sor/Wiz 3). I'm not clear on if this blocks LOS, but it's a good way to isolate or slow down melee meatbags.